It's My Turn Now
by Wintry Rose
Summary: Takes place 20 years after the original Labyrinth. NOT a Jareth/Sarah or anyone else story. Watch for frilly aprons. ;)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the Jim Henson film, Labyrinth, except for Katie, her twin siblings, Alan and Elza, and their niece, Helene, and Ryan (Sarah's Husband). Those characters are of my own invention. 

Author's Note: I have seen Toby's mother (Sarah's Stepmother) being referred to as Karen in many fanfics; however, I have read both the original script and the transcript of the Labyrinth movie, and have never seen her name actually mentioned (in both the script and transcript, she was merely referred to as 'stepmother'). I have therefore named her Aileen in this story. This is not a Sarah story. It revolves around her younger siblings. This is not a Jareth/anybody romance. It is not a romance, period. 

**

=IT'S MY TURN NOW--Chapter One=

**

Katie sat straight up in bed, still trapped in the nightmare that had left her slightly disoriented, dripping with sweat and tangled up in her sheets. She reached over to snap on the bedside lamp but fell out of bed, head first. CRUNCH!!! 

For a few moments she lay there, stunned, but then she realized she was in a totally awkward position, her legs still entangled in the sheets, and if she didn't get up and use the toilet she'd be in an even bigger mess. 

"Shouldn't have drunk those last 4 cups of cocoa," she muttered as she wriggled out of the sheets, carefully pushed herself up and staggered to the door, still dazed from her dreams and the fall. 

The hallway was softly lit with small phosphorescent panels, something she was relieved to find didn't hurt her head any more than it was hurting all ready. 

"Oh great!" she muttered, "Another concussion, and I have that presentation to give sixth period." She shielded her eyes as she opened the bathroom door, otherwise the sudden glare would have made her headache worse. 

As it was, the pain in her head became rather more pressing than her bladder. She rummaged through the medicine chest but couldn't find anything. Then she remembered using the pain reliever and not putting it back. 

"OOPS! It must still be in my room, but I can't think of exactly where I put it last." 

She headed down towards her room, having temporarily forgotten the urgency of her first mission and had to retrace her steps before it erupted. Once back in her room, her initial mission accomplished, she flicked on the main light and blinked her eyes into adjustment with the glare. 

The harsh light disclosed heaps of chaos and dispelled the remnants of the gloom night fall always brought with it. 

"What a mess!" she exclaimed, echoing her mother, "I don't know how I let it get this bad, but I'll never get back to sleep unless at least half this mess is cleared away." 

Four hours later she'd gone as far as she could without using the vacuum cleaner. Once started she found she couldn't stop, refused to stop, until it was as organized and as sparkly as she could get it. 

"I found 3 plates; 4 bowls; 8 cups; 7 missing spoons Mom's been screaming about; 5 library books I was sure I had put in the book drop and those had better be returned as soon as possible before they issue a warrant for my arrest; the dress I was supposed to return to Julia before she got married last winter; the homework assignment due last Wednesday which should have been in the folder I turned in; a batch of clean clothes I misplaced before they could be put away; assorted dirty ones I've really needed but had no real clue where they were, besides being buried somewhere in my room; the bear I meant to return to the giver as he'd put the condition of I could only keep it if I was in love with him... and I'll never feel anything for him besides friendship, I told him that when he gave me the bear in the first place and he said keep it a week and think it over, he left town before I could return it but the office should know where his father's been transferred to; the all important pain killer; and a bag of rice cakes which were crunched when I fell out of bed. I don't remember why they would be in my room, but better them than my neck." 

She shuddered at the close call, took two pain killers for her headache, and put the misappropriated items away in a safe place until they could be properly taken care of, all that is, except for the dishes. Those she could take care of almost immediately. 

Carefully she carried the dishes down to the kitchen, put them in the sink, and ran water over them. "I'll get them washed before I leave for school, I hope." 

"Who are you talking to?" 

She gasped and whirled around to face the voice, then got irritated as she saw who it was. 

"Hello Terry, goodbye Terry, go back to bed Terry....I wish you were back in your own apartment Terry, when are they going to be through fumigating it so you can leave; Terry? I'm too tired to fight with you and you know I always talk too much to myself when I'm tired and occupied with things." 

Her older brother smirked, opened his mouth to say something, but he changed his mind when she got rather pale and suddenly slid down to the floor. "Katie, oh Katie....come on now, you're not dead, are you?" 

At first she didn't answer, didn't move when he shook her, then a soft gurgle came out of her mouth. Relieved, he grinned, got some ice, and put it down her shirt. 

There was no immediate reaction, he was beginning to worry again.....for although he loved to torment his little sister he truly cared about her well-being. Then.... 

"AAAAAAGH!!! TERRY!" she shrieked as she leaped up off the floor and danced around, trying to get the ice out of her shirt. 

He suddenly caught sight of the clock. 

"3:30 A.M.!" he exclaimed, grabbed Katie and put his hand over her mouth, which she promptly bit, something he temporarily ignored as he whispered, "Sorry about the ice. I tried to wake you up but nothing worked on you, then I thought it would be funny to see your reaction to having ice down your shirt..... but you'd better be quiet because we're waking everyone up. LOOK AT THE CLOCK...." he growled as she elbowed him hard in the ribs and stomped hard on his foot. 

He let her go and collapsed onto a chair. Katie turned to look at the clock, gasped, and began to back towards the door. 

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING UP MAKING NOISE AT THIS HOUR?!!!" 

"AAAAGH!" Katie shrieked again and Terry leaped out of his chair, knocking it over. Then he noticed who it was. 

"Sorry Mother, she collapsed briefly, I thought it would be funny to put ice down her shirt to revive her, wasn't thinking of the time." 

Aileen sighed as she gazed at her two oldest children. 20 year old Terence Tobias Kellsen Williams looked like an innocent cherub at first glance; 5'11 with blond hair, blue-green eyes, stream-lined swimmer gymnast martial artist muscles. A closer look revealed mirth and mischief bubbling just under the surface. He certainly delighted in tormenting his little sister, no matter how much he was ordered not to. This wasn't the first time the house had been awakened by Katie shrieking at the top of her lungs, but at least it was later than the last time. 

Katherine Merry-Rose Kellsen Williams had been very much a surprise, popping up three and a half years after Terry, who until her arrival he had been referred to as Toby, but she'd taken an instant dislike to that name the first time she'd heard it and wailed and wailed every time she heard it mentioned in her presence after that. Finally they realized it wasn't her brother, she was fine in his company as long as they didn't mention his name. Terence seemed to be too long for the little fellow at the time, so they'd decided on Terry, and while he had grown into his name, at times like these he was certainly not dignified..... 

Katie started out very short and slight for her age group. Aileen thought it was likely due to her appearance a month and a half early on Christmas Eve, hence her hyphenated middle name. She had avoided having a lot of the health and physiological problems most premature infants had, they knew they'd been blessed to avoid that, but they were still as careful as possible; except when Terry decided to torment his biggest Christmas present and she returned the favor in kind. 

She grew 10" between her 15th and 16th birthdays, finishing her growth at 5'9" with no signs of growing any taller. Where once she'd been picked on because of her delicate appearance (although between her talents and Terry's contributions for her defense many a bully had regretted singling her out for his or her peculiar attentions), now the boys ran after her for what it was wrongly rumored they could get from her and most girls ignored her as they felt they could not compete with the fiery haired goddess, as one of her many male admirers put it. Somehow she had ended up with this incredible shade of red hair, these almond-shaped eyes which were gray when she was calm but violet when her emotions were riled up, long dark eyelashes and eyebrows... some accused her of having dyed everything but it was proved to be totally natural and her face was framed by a widow's peak hairline which made the effect to be that of a heart. 

Aileen snapped out of her remembrances as she noticed Katie turn absolutely white and begin to sway. 

"Terry! Catch your sister! She must have locked her knees." 

He blinked, and turned around just in time to keep her from hitting the floor. Carefully he scooped her up and carried her back up to her room, grunting as he pulled himself up the stairs, Aileen following close behind. 

Although far from fat, Katie weighed more than she looked. Like Terry she swam, and until her growth spurt two years before she had been in competitive gymnastics which they'd decided to table until her body had adjusted to being stretched out. Most of her growth had taken place the summer between her birthdays and had put a great strain on her body's resources. Since then she'd started taking martial arts to add to what defense knowledge gymnastics had taught her but she currently showed no interest to returning to competition. 

Terry plopped his sister on her bed as carefully as he could, then both he and their mother stared at the room in amazement. It was clean, neatly organized, something no one had seen in over a year. 

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "Looks like a tornado hit this in reverse. No wonder she's feeling faint. It didn't look like this when I checked on her just before midnight. Wonder if she'd like do the same thing to my room?" 

Aileen frowned at him. "You're a grown man Terry. You don't need anyone toclean up after you. Why were you checking on her? That's my job." 

He sighed. "She has nightmares on occasion. Most of the time she doesn't get very loud, just whimpers. One night when you and Dad left for the weekend she kept screaming so loudly a neighbor called the cops because they thought a murder was being committed. I couldn't get her to stop so I called Sarah. She and Ryan came right over and took care of things. I never was told what upset Katie in the first place." 

"Why wasn't I told?" Aileen demanded. Although she and her step-daughter had worked out a comfortable relationship over the years, she still felt a small sting of jealousy when her children seemed to confide more things to their older half-sister than they did to their own mother. 

"I asked them not to tell." Katie pushed herself up to a sitting position. "I promised I would tell you when you got back, I meant to tell you, but you were so relaxed and happy from your vacation so I decided to wait a little while until the vacation glow wore off naturally..... then I got busy with school and forgot." 

Aileen walked over to Katie's bed and sat down, pulling her into her arms. 

"You did a wonderful job on this room, honey, I don't think I've ever seen it this clean and organized, even when Sarah was still living here, and she did keep it fairly neat and tidy, most of the time. Once in a while it looked like there'd been a wild party.... streamers and fur everywhere, which your father and I never understood how the mess came about as no one ever came to the house to visit her until she got into college." 

She felt Katie's forehead, finding it to be a little warm she told her "I'd like you to stay home today. I don't think you've gotten enough rest in the past few days and you did such a lot of excavation on this room I'm sure you've overdone it. I'll call the school and get you excused." 

Katie pulled away from her mother and turned to look at her. 

"But Mom," she protested weakly, near tears, "I have to go to school today, at least to sixth period. My presentation is due today and I can't miss that class. I want to graduate as soon as possible." 

Aileen sighed. "Very well, you sleep for a while, I'll check on you around lunch time, then we'll discuss at least going to that class. Promise me you'll go back to sleep?" 

Katie settled back against her pillow. 

"Make it 10:00, I still have to get professionally dressed for the career day presentation and you promised you'd be there to see it. It's at 1:00 this afternoon." She yawned, snuggled under the covers Aileen and Terry had straightened out and tucked around her, and drifted back to sleep. 

Aileen and Terry tiptoed out of the room, shut the door, and returned to the kitchen. 

"I'm over-booked. I thought the Career Day Presentation was next week instead of today; Alan's and Elza's scheduled Room Mother called last night and asked if I could fill in for her today. Will you do it for me, please? Your father has to work, Katie needs me at her school for moral support, and I'm sure the twins would love to have you visit their classroom again." she asked. 

Terry's eyes widened at the mention of his 9 year old siblings. 

"No way Mom, NO WAY!!!!" he protested, "Remember the first, last, and only time I substituted for you?" 

Aileen giggled. Terry had come home with smears of food and water colors in his hair and on his clothes; swearing up and down that he'd never ever go to any type of function involving the twins as long as he lived. 

They'd walked in the door after he'd stormed through, spotlessly clean and looking perfectly angelic. Like Terry, they had blond hair....but it was more the color of honey, gray-green eyes, the same mischievous mirth which bubbled beneath the surface of all her children but was more apparent in these two, especially when they ganged up on a target. 

Terry cancelled his date for that evening and missed some swim practices after discovering the stains left behind from the water colors would not easily wash out of his hair, off his face, nor off his body. She suspected the twins had instigated the food fight, and had customized the water colors with their chemistry set, but nothing was ever proven and no one had seen them do anything. 

"They're almost 3 years older Terry." she offered in their defense. 

"Yes, but twice as scary." he grumbled. 

"Please, I don't know what to do. I'm sure they'll be extra good." she coaxed. 

Terry sighed and sat down. His lap was suddenly filled by the excited twins who had been woken up by Katie's shrieks and had decided to quietly listen in on whatever was going on. 

"Please Terry," Alan started. 

"Come to our class." Elza interrupted. "We promise we'll be extra good." 

"No teasing, no paint or food throwing....we're too old for that, no tricks." Alan added. 

"Terry, please, pretty please?" Elza entreated, looking up at him with soulful eyes. 

He groaned. He never could resist their puppy dog eyes, especially Elza's, and they knew it. 

"Okay, I'll come to class with you. But you had better behave. A certain birdy told me your school has a late fall carnival in three weeks and asked if I'd like to take you, and the only way I'd feel up to it is if you are especially good today." 

"WHEE!!!" the twins jumped up and began dancing around. 

"HUSH!!" Aileen hissed as she looked at the clock. "You'll wake your sister and your father up. It's almost 4:00 a.m. I'm going back to bed for at least two hours and a half hours, I suggest you all do the same. There's a lot to do today and none of it will get done well unless we get more sleep." 

She hugged them and the twins padded silently back to their room. 

Terry sighed as his mother hugged him as well. He was not looking forward to the day ahead. 

She cupped his face in her hands. 

"I know you are not wanting to do this, but I know you will perform your duties as my deputy well, and the teacher really needs the help, otherwise I wouldn't ask you to do it. Now off to bed with you." 

**_~*~*~*~*~*~_**

_"I offer you your dreams." _

"You know what my dreams really are? I'm sure you only know of the surface ones, you've never heard the deepest one. I wish you were literally nothing more than a bad dream, that you had never existed in the first place." 

His eyes were full of sorrow as he slowly dissolved into a wisp of gray smoke, which was then swallowed up by the very crystal in which she had been offered her dreams. He was trapped forever in a crystalline prison of his own making, until they crushed it and made him vanish forever off the face of and from the depths of the Earth. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All Labyrinth characters are owned by Jim Henson and associates. All other characters are my own creation. I'm not making any money off of this story, so please don't sue. 

Author's note: Just wanted to say thanks to Maren Sou (my first reviewer) for explaining the 'Karen' thing to me... ;D 

**

=Chapter Two=

**

"NO!" Katie sat bolt upright with a blood curdling scream still echoing round her room, the dream which had caused many sleepless nights still playing out in her head. "NO! It can't end like that.... wished out of existence... just like that!" 

Her door was flung open, the light flared on again. Her mother, father, brothers, and sister all crowded inside and hurried over to her bed where she sat with tears streaming down her face. 

"Katie," Aileen called softly, "Katie!" more loudly when she didn't seem to realize anyone was there. She shook her daughter slightly, "Wake up honey, you're having a nightmare." She noticed the pupil of Katie's right eye was dilated slightly while the left seemed to contract just fine when light hit it. "Geoffrey, I think she has a concussion but I don't know how she got it. We need to take her to the emergency room immediately." 

"Mom...I'm fine. I fell out of bed while reaching for my lamp and bumped my head a little. I just need some sleep. I've had worse concussions before, trust my judgment, please?" Katie wiped her face with her sheet, found a fairly unused tissue and blew her noise, leaned back against her pillow and smiled a little. "I'm sorry to keep waking everybody up. It was just a nightmare." she croaked as reassuringly as possible. 

Aileen looked long and hard at her daughter, who was wearing her most stubborn I'm all right don't bother me face. She knew from experience as Katie got older that making Katie do whatever Katie did not want to do, as far as health care was concerned, often caused more harm than good. 

"All right, I won't rush you down to the emergency room but I am going to insist you not go to school until Tuesday. I'll call the school and get your presentation postponed. I'm sure your teacher, your guidance counselor, and the principal will agree that you need to recuperate from this little incident." 

Katie grimaced. She hated putting off her most unpleasant assignments, usually those which entailed having to get up and make public speaking presentations as it meant she had to make them up at some later date when there was no one to compare or compete with, but she knew that if she was taken down to the emergency room she'd miss it anyway, and her return to school would be much later than Tuesday. 

"Okay, I'll stay home, and in bed as much as possible." 

Aileen glanced at the clock. 

"5:30....everyone under the age of 20 back to bed for at least another hour. SCOOT!" she ordered. 

She kissed Katie and left, pulling the twins out with her who had wanted to stay and keep Katie company for a while. 

"Terry, you need to come out as well, I need to talk to you. Geoffrey, are you coming?" 

He shook his head. "I'll be out in a few minutes dear, I want to talk to Katie before she goes back to sleep." 

Once they were out in the hallway, Terry leaned against the wall yawning until it looked like his face would split open and his eyes began to water. 

"Change of plans," Aileen barked softly "Terry, I'll need you to stay home and keep an eye on Katie. It looks like you need your rest. I'll take the twins to school as was originally planned. First, I'm going back to bed for about an hour or so or I won't be able to get anything done. You don't have class today, do you?" 

Terry shook his head. "Not until Tuesday, which is also when they said it'd be safe to move back to my apartment, the chemicals should have dissipated by then." 

"But Mommy," Alan and Elza whined, "we wanted Terry to come to school with us." 

Terry knelt down in front of them. "I'll take you to your school carnival. It's better if Mom goes with you to school today. You'll still be on your best behavior, right?" He picked them up and carried them down the stairs to their room, Aileen following close behind. 

When everyone had gone, Robert Geoffrey Williams knelt down by the side of his second eldest daughter's bed. "How are you doing? Really, I mean. I know you like to tough things out and don't like to confide much in anyone, but you know we are here for you, right?" He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. 

"I'm fine, Daddy, really I am." Katie assured him. "How are you doing? I didn't mean to wake you or anyone else up." 

He stroked her hair. "You didn't wake me. I was in the kitchen just about to make breakfast. I hope your mother doesn't mind the eggs being dropped on the floor, something I'd better make sure I clean up before I leave. By the way...." he pulled out a crystal globe from his pocket and handed it to her. "I've been meaning to give this to you." 

Katie held it in her hands and watched the changing scene. There was the figure of a barn owl floating around inside, when shaken it changed into smoke and vanished, but once the liquid calmed the owl reformed. 

"Where did you get this?" she asked, stunned that her recurring dream had some type of physical manifestation. 

"I came across an old peddler by the park's footbridge. He had this strange trained bear with him and offered this to me for what I considered a reasonable amount of money, telling me he needed funds to buy food, he wouldn't have sold it otherwise. He asked if I had any daughters, I replied I had three. He told me, 'the eldest rejected it, the youngest is much too young, and the middle___perhaps she'll know and do something about it.' I felt I had to buy it." 

He pushed himself up and walked slowly to the door. "I don't say it often enough I know, but I love you, child. I'm proud to be your father, and you did wonders with this room." He turned off the light and shut the door behind him. 

Katie listened to his footsteps retreating across the landing and down the stairs. She snuggled down beneath her covers and went back to sleep, holding the globe securely in her hand. 

The house was empty by 9:00, except for the two sleeping beauties.... Geoffrey having left for work at 7 and Aileen and the twins having left at 8:30 for their school. 

It was very peaceful, very quiet..... almost too quiet for the commotion which had erupted only a few hours before. 

Katie stirred back into wakefulness. She wasn't used to being asleep at this time of day, at least, not in her bed asleep. Usually by now she was in her second class of the day, once in a while she dozed off when she had had an especially wakeful night and there was one time when she accidently toppled all her books off her desk while sleeping, which caused the whole class to turn, look at her, and rouse her from her dazed state with loud laughter....but enough of that memory. 

She shook it off. 

Getting up out of bed she carried the globe over to the window where she could study it in better light. Now that there were no more interruptions, no extra people to distract her...she could see that between the owl and the wisp of smoke was the briefest shimmer of a man's form, a most unhappy man, the same one who had been inhabiting her dreams for years, and these dreams were never ones she could quite remember, nor did she feel she wanted to remember..... 

"Those eyes, I've been haunted by those eyes. And what am I supposed to do with you?" she asked the globe. 

Just then, her stomach gurgled, and she broke off her hypnotized reverie to realize she hadn't eaten in a long time. Low blood sugar, no wonder she wasn't coming up with anything. Over the years she'd found that her best ideas often happened on a full stomach, and there was something inspirational about the kitchen which helped her find solutions to odd problems. 

Not wanting to leave the globe alone in the room, she carried it down to the kitchen with her and put it on the table. It began to roll towards the edge of the table, so she turned a bowl upside down and placed the globe inside of the bottom edge. 

"Sit still." she snapped, and stomped towards the refrigerator, muttering not quite inaudibly about dreams interfering with real life, meanings being too cryptic, and how was she supposed do her part in taking care of the problems presented if the dreams never stuck in her conscious mind long enough for her to figure out solutions. 

She flung open the door dramatically, almost ripping it off its hinges, and scanned the contents. Nothing interested her stomach. She tried the freezer. Nothing. 

"Terry!" she hollered up the stairs. No answer. She increased the volume. 

"Terry!" Still no answer. 

She increased the volume still more and varied the pitch, her secret weapon. 

"TE_AH_RREE?!!!" she shrieked. 

When there was still no response she ran upstairs and checked his room. He wasn't there. 

"AAAAGH! Why is it you're never here when I need you?" 

Shifting into adrenaline overdrive, not a good thing to do with low blood sugar, she went back down to the kitchen and examined the cupboards, slamming the doors shut after each one disappointed her. Nothing appealed to her. 

Closing her eyes she took several deep breaths managing to clear her head somewhat. 

"Okay, Terry's not here so that means I need to cook something, since I can't ask him to pretty please go get me some Chinese, fried rice that is. I'll have to hold it together and put together my own version. Not something I was looking forward to doing on a too empty stomach. I've gotten to the point that if I don't eat soon, I'll pass out, but nothing else is appealing right now and if I eat just any old thing my stomach won't hold it down." 

With a slightly calmer attitude, Katie examined the refrigerator once again. She found some leftover rice, was slightly tempted to make rice pudding but realized it would boil over too easily if she didn't keep a close eye on it and she wasn't willing to split what little focus she had. 

She also found some carrots, celery, a couple of garlic cloves, green onions, a red pepper, a nub of fresh ginger, a few pieces of broccoli, a little left over steak which still smelled good, a jar of water chestnuts she'd squirreled away as they were her ultimate favorite crunchy thing to munch on and she'd wanted to save them until the next time she threw her concoction together, and a nice small yellow squash. 

As quickly but carefully as she could she snipped up the onions, cut the carrots and celery across the diagonal as thinly as possible, diced the pepper, the broccoli, and the squash, chopped the water chestnuts and the garlic, then grated the ginger. 

She got her favorite pan off its hook, put it on the cook top, added some olive oil, turned the heat knob to medium, waited impatiently for the oil to heat up, added the garlic and ginger, sauteed them about a minute, added the rest of the vegetables, stirred them, lowered the heat and covered the pan while she briefly left to pull out ingredients for her sauce. 

On her return she dumped out the vegetables onto a plate, added the steak to the pan, stirred it around to heat up, added a bit of soy sauce, honey, molasses, a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spices powder, added the rice, stirred that around to warm and coat it, and then returned the vegetables to the mixture and carefully stirred them in. 

Once she was satisfied she dumped it into a bowl, covered it, put the bowl on the table, turned off the burner, placed the dishes she'd used into the sink, dumped the vegetable trimmings into the compost, put her sauce ingredients away, then sat down to regroup her thoughts and regain some energy. She'd expended more than she had available and was decidedly light headed, but it took energy to be able to eat. 

Briefly she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the counter. A few moments later she heard thumping and rattling. Reluctantly opening her eyes she saw the globe bouncing against the bottom edge of its containment and it was moving towards her food. 

She exclaimed as she rushed into action "Oh.....no you don't, buster! Stay away from there. I worked much too hard to have that get pushed off the table, and you can't see to say whoa." and grabbed the globe. Some fragments of dreams suddenly coalesced in her head, so in the same motion she quickly bent down, spun the globe on the floor, and said, "I wish that the being contained in this globe was restored to his proper self." 

Katie slumped down onto the floor, just missing her chair, and leaned against the lower cabinets. She didn't witness the globe splitting open, but she could hear the crystal break, the hissing of gas being released, the flap flap of wings, a high pitched squeal, the sound of flesh slapping against the floor and a muffled "Ooooph." 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All Labyrinth characters are owned by Jim Henson and associates. All other characters are my own creation. I'm not making any money off of this story, so please don't sue. 

**

=Chapter Three=

**

She opened one eye, saw there was a body lying on the floor, closed her eye back up, and calmly remarked, "I hope you can hear me. You'll find something to wear two doors down from me. It'll do until I can get you something better." 

A warm presence brushed past her legs and she could hear the cabinet door being opened, the drawer pulled out, and the contents discovered. 

"Ugh, miss.....I don't see anything suitable." A slightly accented male voice spoke close to her ear. 

She sighed. "You'll have to hunt through that drawer. I am temporarily unable to move." 

He moved back. She could hear him rustling through the contents and rejecting them one by one as he tossed them in her direction. 

"Too small." toss 

"Too small." toss 

"Too small." toss 

"Too small." toss 

"Too small and too frilly." toss 

"Almost decent, but exposes more than I want to under these circumstances." toss 

"Ghastly color, how can anyone stand to wear this?" toss 

"I do NOT look good in stripes!" toss 

There was a sudden cessation of movement. Then... 

"Miss, I've come to the bottom of the drawer, and there is nothing here." 

Katie grimaced. "I agree there isn't much choice, but you cannot wander around the house stark naked and I simply do not have enough energy to find something else. Put the wraparound apron on, and then choose between the housecoats. I can guarantee the stripes will look better on you than one you referred to as being of a ghastly color. And....." she paused before finishing, "tell me once you have something on." 

A few minutes later 

"I'm as decent as I can be with what you have available." he grumped. 

"Good. Now, could you please do one small favor for me? Get me a couple of sugar cubes? They should be up in the cabinet across from me, and I'll need a little bit of salt dissolved in some water." she asked, her voice barely coherent. 

She could hear him move about the kitchen, but she didn't dare open her eyes as everything was swirling about her. There was a muffled yelp, but she couldn't focus long enough to inquire into the matter. 

He sat down next to her, poked a couple of sugar cubes into her mouth, waited until she swallowed, then helped guide the glass to her mouth so she could take a few sips of the lightly salted water. 

Finally Katie opened her eyes and looked him directly in the eyes. "I thank you for your patience," she began to say, then noticed he wasn't looking particularly well. She slowly pulled herself up, glanced at the cabinet where he'd gotten the sugar cubes from and realized something. 

"Oh dear! I must apologize to you, Jareth, King of the Goblins. I forgot the kitchen had been remodeled recently and all the upper cabinet handles were changed to iron pulls." 

Carefully she reached for her pet aloe vera plant, ripped off a leaf, gashed it open, placed it across the blister and wrapped one of the discarded aprons around his hand to hold it in place. A bit of a smile briefly tilted the corners of her mouth, then she skewed them back into a sober position. 

He gestured weakly. "You find my wound funny?" 

"Oh no........far from it." She smirked. "It just occurred to me that that particular apron makes a far better wound wrap than a body one. Of course, if my mother hadn't gotten rid of the other black one, the electric blue one, or the two hot pink ones...... replacing them with something more suitable for actual work, you might have been dressed a bit differently." Her smile broadened, she snickered, then cleared her throat and apologized when he looked at her sternly. 

"I'm sorry....plain sugar always goes straight to my head and you couldn't know the former occupants of that drawer were quite a bit more frothy. Of course you can't find anything funny right now, after being stuck in that globe almost twenty years and were facing certain destruction." She sighed, finally coming down from her intense sugar high. "Sit down, you must be hungry. After we eat, I'll go rummage through Terry's clothes, unless he thaws out in the next 15 minutes." 

Jareth looked towards the doorway to find it blocked by a statue which hadn't been there before. "What is wrong with him?" 

Katie grabbed three plates, three sets of utensils, and set the table. "Shock. I think he recognizes you from when he was little and never expected to see you again, especially not here." 

He frowned. "I've never been here in all the days of my existence, and I certainly don't recognize him." He sat down facing the doorway, still with an immense frown on his face. 

She grimaced. "I wouldn't stake anything on it." she muttered softly under her breath. *Well, I'd better see if I can snap Terry out of it.* 

Walking up to Terry, who wasn't even blinking an eye, and she was afraid he wasn't breathing, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Terry.....Terry!" she softly called. 

When that didn't work she tried again, this time louder. "Terry.....oh, Terry.....Terry! TERRY WAKE UP!!!" 

Still nothing happened. She knew there was no other way. "TOBY....Toby...come out, you're home safe and sound. I'll protect you." 

Terry blinked and shook his head. "Katie, I was having the weirdest daymare....why did you just call me Toby? I thought you didn't like that name...." His voice trailed off and he pointed a shaking finger at the man sitting down at the table, who was now staring back hard at the two of them. 

She glanced in the hallway behind him and noticed bags of stuff. "Oooooh, you read my mind. Chinese! Beef and broccoli, Kung Pao chicken, Sesame Chicken, sweet and sour plum sauce, wontons, did you get....here they are, cream cheese stuffed wontons, egg rolls....wow." She stuck everything back in the bags and carried them to the table. 

Jareth stared at the young man in the doorway, then he turned his gaze to the young woman who had freed him from the globe. "Who...who..." he broke off, swallowed, and began again. "Who are you....and where am I?" 

"That's right, you were sealed up in that thing before I came into existence." Katie snapped her fingers. "Jareth, you already know Terry, or I should call him by his full name....Terence Tobias Kellsen Williams, formerly known as Toby. I am his sister, Katherine Merry-Rose Kellsen Williams. You were acquainted with our older half-sister, Sarah Williams....whom you proceeded to drive quite batty before she hit upon a plan to get you out of her life for good. Your current location is in the kitchen of our parents' house. I don't think you've ever been in here before, or would remember it if you had, it's been remodeled at least seven times since Sarah moved out. Now, everyone sit down and eat, because I'm very hungry and I'm starting to get extremely PISSED OFF." 

The last two words had come out in a loud shriek. Jareth stared even harder, Katie stared back, they both seemed almost as frozen as Terry had been in the door way. Terry rushed to the table and helped Katie into a chair, then he got out three glasses and some grape juice. "Calm down, Katie....we're sitting, we're eating, we'll talk this through later. Have some juice." 

Quickly he spooned some food from each of the cartons onto her plate, added some of the rice concoction, put a fork in her hand, and carefully tilted her face away from Jareth to look down at her food. He filled a plate for Jareth, placed it before him and then waved his hands in front of Jareth's face. "Hello, Earth to Goblin King....come in Goblin King....you'd better eat something." He clapped loudly. 

Finally Jareth blinked, and jumped a little. "What is wrong with her? Must she be so loud?" He winced and covered his ears with his hands. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All Labyrinth characters are owned by Jim Henson and associates. All other characters are my own creation. I'm not making any money off of this story, so please don't sue. 

**=Chapter Four=**

Terry threw a wonton across the table onto his plate. 

"Ignore her. Just take your time eating and don't ask any more questions until she's through. She's always this way when she goes too long without eating. I take it you gave her some sugar cubes and salt water?" 

Jareth nodded. 

"Yeah," Terry sighed, "Her electrolytes get down so low at times we have to do something fast to keep her from going into shock, but it seems the sugar brings them back too high too fast, when we don't get something more solid in her right away she literally causes objects to bounce up and down all over the place, large and small, hence the many kitchen remodels. Not everything bounces very well, or survives the experience." 

Just then something rattled right behind Jareth. He gulped, wondering if he should duck under something no matter how undignified it would look. 

Terry grinned and filled his own plate. 

"Katie, I also got some potstickers. They actually had lobster ones this time." 

Still in a daze she slowly spooned some rice into her mouth, chewed for just a second, then hurriedly gulped some grape juice. "Hah...Hah..HOT!" she exclaimed as she fanned her mouth. "I'm sure that was a bell pepper I chopped up and put in, I tasted just a little bit, which means I found the remnants of Mom's famous chile steak." 

Momentarily abandoning her rice, she moved onto the beef and broccoli. "Terry.....thank you. You're a real life saver. I'd have to go through a gallon of milk to eat the rice and I don't much feel like drinking milk." 

Terry thought for a moment. "There is someone else we forgot to thank." He held out his right hand to Jareth and his left to Katie, she grasped it with her right hand and with her left she grabbed Jareth's right hand. Jareth hesitated slightly, then completed the circle by accepting Terry's hand. 

Terry and Katie bowed their heads, Jareth watched them with piercing eyes but sat quietly as Terry offered the prayer. 

Father  
We thank Thee for Thy providence, for Thy guidance in our daily lives. Please bless this food before us that it will nourish and strengthen us, and bless us with Thy continued protection and guidance as we go about our daily tasks.  
We ask this humbly in the name of Thy Holy Son,  
Amen. 

Terry and Katie straightened back up, reclaimed their respective hands from Jareth's grasp, and resumed eating. He gave them a thoughtful look then asked, "Do you pray regularly?" 

Terry and Katie looked at each other, then Katie answered. 

"We work on praying when we wake up in the morning, before we go to bed at night, for guidance, for protection, for solutions to problems which may occur, we thank Him for what blessings we have received, and we also pray before every meal to bless the food so that if there is something wrong with it that it won't affect us negatively. Occasionally we bless our enemies so that they will have the opportunity to change for the better if they choose to do so." 

Terry took over. 

"Some days it is hit and miss, we fail to remember to thank our Heavenly Father for providing us with another day to live and grow physically as well as spiritually and when that happens the day seems to go all wrong and we don't get done what we need to do. And, we do our best to remember that it is God's will, not ours, what happens in our lives, and we ask for understanding and patience to bear with the trials we have to under go." 

Katie thought for a moment and added, "Just going through the motions of prayer like some kind of repetitive ritual, not really thinking about what you are doing or saying, having your attention wander while you are mumbling some words, that is not the proper way to do it. Ideally a person is in a quiet, private place, kneeling down with his or her head bowed before God, but that is not always possible. There are times when one has to pray while in a public place, and his or her eyes cannot be closed as it is could turn into a life or death situation....when that happens it is proper to pray silently with eyes open, and prayer in public should always be said as unobtrusively as possible unless it is a situation where one is invited to pray in public. We all have to form our own personal relationships with God. In the end, every individual stands by him or herself at the Judgment Bar and are held accountable for each thing that we have done. There is no middle man like a teacher, a priest, or a preacher between the individual and the Judge." 

Jareth sat silently, lost in thought. 

"I don't remember in my earlier dealings with Sarah and your family anyone being particularly religious." 

Terry and Katie looked at each other, then she shrugged and answered. "Well, they weren't. You could say the events surrounding my birth and the doubt of my continued mortal existence caused our parents to have a spiritual awakening. They'd been aware for a long time that something was missing in their lives but they never had the inclination to really hunt for it, or were scared of the consequences of having their questions answered. Sarah still has doubts about any type of organized religion, which is her decision. She's still a member of this family even if we don't always see eye to eye on certain subjects, like religion, politics and your continued existence." 

She smiled, changing the subject. "More rice?" 

Jareth shook his head, and turned his attention to his plate, then he watched as they also resumed eating. There was a pleasant feeling in the house, something he'd never experienced before. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All Labyrinth characters are owned by Jim Henson and associates. All other characters are my own creation. I'm not making any money off of this story, so please don't sue. 

**=Chapter Five=**

They were almost done eating when there was a SCREEECH! CRASH! outside. The house shook a little as the front door was flung open and slammed shut. An approaching voice shouted. "Is everything okay? Are you all right? I felt really strange so I decided to come over and make sure......" The voice abruptly broke off. 

Katie sighed. She had been hoping to put off this confrontation until she at least had had time to digest her food. "Sit down and have some food Sarah, you must be hungry. I take it Ryan stayed home with Helene?" 

Like Terry had before, Sarah stood frozen in the doorway, but thawed much sooner than he did, without intervention. "Wh...what is HE doing HERE? HOW? I thought I GOT RID of you FOR GOOD, yet here you are...." Her voice wavered between outrage and bewilderment. 

Jareth pushed back his chair and stood up. He didn't want to be caught like a sitting duck if she decided to do something. 

Sarah took one good long look at him and pivoted around to face away from him. They could see her shoulders shaking as she fought to compose herself, but it was no use. She spluttered, honked, and snorted in a fit of violent laughter. 

Katie also pushed back her chair and stood up. 

"Terry, take Jareth and find him something to wear. I need to talk to Sarah once she settles down, and I don't know how long that will be. You also might want to check the condition of her car, it didn't sound too good when she....... parked." 

Once they were alone, Katie positioned a chair behind Sarah and gently pushed on her shoulder to get her to sit down. Sarah obediently sat and immediately doubled over, her wild mirth deteriorating into shuddering sobs. 

Katie pulled a chair over and plopped herself down in front of her, ready to talk when Sarah was able, but for now, sitting in silent support. Then she decided she couldn't abide just sitting there, watching a loved one relive so much pain. Quickly she boiled some water in the microwave, put one of her special herbal blends in a nice pot, added the water, and let it steep while she returned to sit in front of Sarah and watch her until she was ready to talk. 

When Sarah's sobbing and shuddering gradually decreased, Katie strained some of the tea into a mug, added some honey, a splash of lemon, and handed it to Sarah_who smelled it speculatively before accepting it. 

"Don't worry, there's nothing exotic in this particular blend" Katie assured her, "just some chamomile, some spearmint, a touch of sage, lavender, honey, and a splash of lemon." 

Sarah grimaced at the memory of some of Katie's special blends she'd been "lucky" enough to be the first to try, a human guinea pig for Katie's creative culinary excursions. Granted, a lot of them actually turned out wonderful.... but the bad combinations were even more memorable. She slowly sipped at her tea. 

Katie decided once again she couldn't sit still one more minute waiting until Sarah was able to talk. She could feel that Sarah was still very tense, so she went behind her and methodically rubbed as many knots as she could out of her half-sister's shoulders. Gradually she could feel the knots release and the muscles unwind. Deciding that was all she could do at the moment, she washed her hands to remove what tension she'd absorbed from Sarah then sat back down and waited some more. 

Sarah pulled a frownie face at Katie. "Hey," she protested "I'm the big sister, I'm supposed to soothe you." Then she smiled. "It is nice to be taken care of. Thank you for caring for me." Turning very serious she asked "Do you know how that man got here? Are you aware of who he is?" 

Katie sighed. "The answer to both your spoken questions is" she paused "Yes. I know who he is. A Fae known as Jareth, King of the Goblins, ruler of the Labyrinth, who became obsessed with you after you solved the Labyrinth and defeated him in your quest to rescue Toby; whom you wished away." She held up her hand to halt Sarah from speaking. "Let me finish. I know you didn't really intend for it to happen." She sighed again, then continued. "No one told me. I have been having recurring dreams of your adventures in the Labyrinth since I was a baby, and then when I was older, they changed to include what pain you experienced because of his obsessive behavior. At that time you had no choice but to seal him away with your wish, and he was almost destroyed." 

She broke off, and went to get some water. On her return, she held Sarah's hands in her own before she continued. "As for how he got here" she paused again, "I wished him back, only it was a lot earlier than what I intended. Emergency situations. His global prison started after my food and I wished him back to save it." 

Katie could feel waves of hurt and betrayal emitting from Sarah. "Before you get extremely angry and disown me, listen." Her urgent request was granted by Sarah's continued silence. "There are things, tasks you can call them, only he can take care of, should he choose to do so. Another person forced to take them on his or her shoulders would be sadly ill-equipped to complete them. Jareth does have his agency to decide whether or not to accept. It's always been up to him." 

"Very well, I won't disown you, and I know you must have had a very good reason for bringing him back." Sarah broke off and stared at her tea. "What I'd like to know, what concerns me... Is he going to come after me and my family for revenge or for any other reasons? I don't have anything to offer him, not even friendship." She grimaced and resumed sipping at her cooling tea. 

Katie was stunned, she hadn't thought that far. It had all happened much too fast. She finally answered. "I really couldn't tell you, not until I've talked with him. He was only wished back two hours ago, and as you saw..... he appeared decidedly unprepared." 

Sarah giggled, feeling strangely a lot calmer about his reappearance. "Is that why he is dressed so strangely." 

Katie shrugged. "It was either have him wear Mom's most covering work ensemble, or allow him to run stark naked about the house until I got enough energy to obtain something more presentable. Terry didn't return home until right after I made the wish. Unfortunately, as we found out afterwards, he was in a position to see the whole show. I'm quite sure he'll be having nightmares for awhile." 

She paused to breathe before continuing. "Now that I think about it, I'll have to ask him exactly what happened. I was so drained I had my eyes closed all through Jareth's reappearance, it sounded very interesting from what I heard. I did open one eye when I heard something land hard on the floor, and was able to somehow process the situation fast enough to advise him of some temporary covering." She turned a little red but the corner of her mouth quirked. "I'm just glad Mom restocked the apron drawer with items more substantial than what had been in there before." 

Both she and Sarah howled at the thought of Jareth having to fashion some modesty out of the former occupants of the drawer. 

Sarah wiped her eyes and handed the mug to Katie. "I'd better go take over on the baby. Helene's teething and feeling very miserable, I'm sure Ryan is about to start sobbing with her." She stopped. "Oh dear, I do hope my car still works. I was so distracted I'm afraid I drove very badly, and parked much worse." Quickly she dashed out to check on her car. 

Katie expected her to drive away, but Sarah returned with a covered basket in her hand. 

"I've been meaning to give these to you. I found them about eight years ago. They appeared out of no where. I couldn't just throw them out." She handed it over and retraced her steps out of the kitchen, letting out a mirthful gurgle as she passed Jareth and Terry on her way out the front door. 

Jareth raised one eyebrow and stared stony-faced at Katie, who had followed Sarah as far as the stairway. "Classic Spock!" she shouted, giggled, and clapped her hands. 

"I don't find this situation amusing." he clipped. 

"See?" Katie appealed to Terry, who nodded in agreement, but advised her "Cool it Katie, he's reached his limits." 

Just then the grandfather clock struck 3. BONG! BONG! BONG! 

Katie and Terry stared at each other, and gasped. "Mom! The twins!" they shouted. 

Katie thrust the basket into Jareth's arms and tugged at his sleeve, insisting that he follow her upstairs. "Come with me." she ordered, and pushed and tugged the bewildered Fae up the stairs, his head whirling at the amount of tension they were suddenly both putting out. 

Once they got to her room, she shoved him inside. "Stay in here until I get back. Take a nap, read, please don't go anywhere else until I return." She peeked under the covering on the basket. "Yes, I take it these would belong to you. Don't do anything with them until I return. Okay, I'll be back in about half an hour to 45 minutes, depending on how fast Terry and I can restore the kitchen to order." She pulled the door shut and ran downstairs, almost tumbling in her haste. 

Jareth stood frozen for several moments after the red-haired whirlwind left. Then his head cleared. Wondering what she had seen in the basket which presumably belonged to him, he pulled off the covering to find.....several small crystal globes, just like the ones he had offered to Sarah so many years ago, and identical to the one he'd been trapped in for so long. All of a sudden he yawned, and decided it would be prudent to take Katie's bossy advice. He stretched out on her bed with the globes beside him and drifted off to sleep. 

Katie and Terry were almost done with the kitchen when they heard their mother zoom up and it wasn't long before it sounded as if a herd of thundering mustangs had entered the house. 

"HELLO, HELLO, ARE YOU ALIVE IN THERE KATIE?" Alan and Elza yelled at the top of their lungs. "WHAT HAVE YOU BOTH BEEN UP TO ALL DAY?" 

The older two siblings stared at each other taken aback by the question. "Ugh, nothing much." they answered in unison. 

Aileen, who had followed her boisterous twins in, grimaced at the noise. "SHHH! Shhhhh....it is time for quiet voices now." She rubbed her temples. 

"Mom," Terry grinned, "I take it you had lots of fun today. To be honest, I'm just glad it wasn't me who went today." She threw an apple at him which he barely managed to dodge. "Hey, careful." He yelped. 

She sighed. "They were actually quite well-behaved this time, for the most part. It was pretty much the other children in the class." She plopped herself down in a chair. 

Terry went over, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and rubbed her neck. "Wow, Mom, you must have had a rough day. Every muscle you've got is extremely taut. Why don't you go and take a long soak, Katie and I can handle the twins and dinner." he suggested. 

Katie went "EEP!", then turned around and glared at him, jerking her head towards the ceiling. 

_'Later'_ he mouthed silently to her. 

"Is something wrong?" Aileen asked, aware that Katie was upset about something. 

"Oh no, I can take care of it a little later. Your sanity and subsequent health is more important. Yes, we'll take care of both dinner and the twins." Katie resumed wiping the counter down. *I'll have to take care of Jareth later. Mom looks exhausted.* 

The twins, who had disappeared right after their shouted greeting, just as suddenly returned. Elza sidled up to Katie and tugged at her shirt. "Hey Katie!" she stage whispered. 

"What?" Katie asked absent-mindedly, her thoughts divided between her current kitchen tasks and what to do about the person in her room. 

"Why is there a strange man on your bed?" 


	6. Chapter 6

Author Notes: 12/09/2002-12/12/2002 

A huge Thank you to my three signed reviewers, Maren Sou, Zabella, and Rae Street; who I'm sure have been anxiously waiting to see how the story turns, to my daughter who finally returned my Labyrinth notebook so I could scrawl down the continuation, and also to my editor who HTMLs so nicely and is much quicker at it than I would be if I were the one to do it. 

Disclaimer: I do not own the original Labyrinth characters, they are owned by Jim Henson productions and also by whomever bought into the company. Katie, her siblings Alan and Elza, their niece Helene, and Sarah's husband Ryan are my creations, as is the coined name Kellsen, which perhaps is someone's real last name but I put two names together to come up with it. The meaning will come up later. 

Now, on with the story. 

**Chapter Six**

Katie froze. She could hear Elza's inquiry bounce off the walls of the kitchen. Behind her she could hear Terry gasp, and expected a sharp outcry from their mother. 

When there was no immediate reaction, she bowed her head and peeked cautiously under her arm, then had to fight back a sudden giggle. Terry's mouth was hanging open, his eyes bulging almost from their sockets. The expression on his face reminded her somewhat of the insane teacher from 'Daria.' 

She switched her attention to their mother, who seemed very lost in thought and appeared not to have heard Elza's "whisper." 

Abruptly Aileen stood up. "I'm going to go ahead and take a nice, long soak. I know between the two of you, you'll be able to take care of dinner and Alan and Elza, whom I'm sure won't cause any trouble. Right?" she queried, mock glaring at the younger sometimes dastardly duo. 

Alan and Elza glanced at each other, then turned perfectly angelic faces towards their mother. Terry groaned, Katie rolled her eyes and shook her head. Whenever the twins appeared the most innocent and harmless, they were always plotting something. 

"Mom, is there anything special you'd like for dinner?" Katie asked, stopping her mother on her way out of the kitchen. 

"Not really, unless you would like to make your 'Mostly Vegetarian Meatloaf.' I'm sure your guest would appreciate it." 

This time Katie was the one to gasp and stare bug-eyed and openmouthed. "Muh...muh ...muh...my guest?" 

Terry regained his senses. "We had a sudden drop-in, an old acquaintance of mine and Sarah's. Katie put him in her room to rest as mine....well, you can walk around in hers." 

Aileen sighed. "No need to explain, I understand emergencies happen. Katie, you may run up and check on your guest, make sure the twins didn't disturb him too much, put your mind at ease about his welfare; but if memory serves me right, he'll be out for at least another hour and a half. You'll have time to finish your stint at kitchen duty." 


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Katie and Terry stared at the door through which their mother had left, then at each other. Alan and Elza seemed oblivious to what was going on. 

Katie was about to leave the kitchen, following in the wake of their mother's exit, when Alan piped up with something totally unexpected. 

"Oh Katie, I forgot to remind Mommy about something very important. She wanted to ask you to please, PLEEASE consult her BEFORE you go about wishing any more people back." 

For the third time that day, another impromptu statue graced the entrance to the William's kitchen. 

Terry shook his head. "What a day this has turned out to be! I'm beginning to miss being at school, taking finals or even a visit to the dentist." 

He had just stepped forward to try his hand at reviving her when Alan and Elza took action, deciding it was their turn to revive someone from a semi-catatonic state. They each grabbed a large pitcher and threw its iced contents in Katie's direction, most of which hit her, but some liquid splashed Terry and also got their father, who had gotten home a little early and had barely opened his mouth to ask Katie if she was feeling better. 

They dropped the pitchers, Katie sat down hard on the floor, and Geoffrey choked a little before managing to swallow what had landed in his mouth. 

"Good limeade, Katie," he remarked, "not too sweet, just the right amount of tartness....but kids, I do prefer to drink it from a glass, not wear it. Terry, could you please get a washcloth for me? Some got in my eyes." 

Terry ran to get a washcloth from the downstairs bathroom as quickly as he could. He'd had his own experiences with citrus juice in the eye, and he sympathized strongly with anyone who was currently suffering the consequences. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

When she heard her father mention limeade, Katie tasted the liquid dripping from her forearm, leaped up while shrieking loudly, "Do you two realize exactly how long it took me to prepare the limeade, we have no more ingredients, and you undid all that work in mere moments?" and began chasing the twins, who in turn also began shrieking at the top of their lungs and ran to escape their very irate older sister. 

They made it to the stairs just ahead of her and barely managed to avoid colliding with a puzzled but annoyed Goblin King, who had been enjoying his first peaceful rest in a very, very long time....that is until he first became aware of something piercing into him, then when the sensation suddenly ceased and he'd settled back into a light doze...which promised to get deeper, an incredible racket suddenly erupted. For a brief moment he thought he was back in his castle at the Center of the Labyrinth, then memory kicked in so he decided to investigate. 

Katie reached forward just as the twins darted behind Jareth, knocking him off balance so he fell towards her. She acted reflexively, grabbing and flipping him over onto the floor and pinned him. 

"Go Katie, GO!" The twins cheered enthusiastically from their safe zone at the top of the stairs, peering down through the slats in the railing which spanned the small landing. They loved seeing both older siblings in action against bullies, each other, and in competition, but they cheered even louder when they weren't the ones being carefully subdued. 

Geoffrey, who had rinsed his eyes and face off as best as he could, was in the midst of reaching for a towel when he heard the change in the twins' vocalizations so he poked his dripping face out into the hall. Seeing that Katie had someone pinned to the floor, he ran for the phone and dialed emergency services. 

Terry, who was now repenting of not following his mother's directives to get rested up, and instead had run errands while Katie slept, snapped back into awareness. "Oh no!" he groaned when he overheard his father's conversation with the duty officer about a captured prowler. 

"Dad!" he hissed urgently across the room, and waved his arms to get his attention. 

When his father showed no signs of noticing him, he ran over and snatched the phone away, carefully covering the mouthpiece of the receiver. 

Geoffrey stared at his oldest son in amazement. "Terry, that was very rude. This call is very important, hand the phone back so I can finish it." 

Terry grimaced. "Ugh, Dad...we don't have a prowler problem. We have an unexpected guest, his arrival was completely unplanned. I can explain to you what I know, Katie can tell you more, so could Sarah for that matter, it was by her doing that he got involved with this family in the first place, but I don't think she will be coming back here any time soon. Helene is teething. I'm sure our guest somehow got in the way of Katie chasing the twins." 

His father nodded, not completely convinced as he'd never known Katie to use excessive force on anyone who didn't deserve what they received at her hands, she was especially careful with the twins no matter how much they upset her. There had been a couple of rare occasions where a lecher had zoomed in their midst under his very protective and well-developed Husband/Father radar, but those people didn't stay around long, thanks to Katie's considerable repertoire of offensive and defensive tactics. 

He sighed. "Very well, I'll cancel the call to the police, but you'll have to tell me everything you know about this person right after I hang up." 

Terry relinquished the phone, Geoffrey resumed his conversation with the police. "Sorry about the interruption, Officer. My son has explained to me that we have an unexpected guest, who has had some sort of misunderstanding with Katie. Should there be a problem like the last time a unit was requested here, I'll be in touch. No, I'm sure your presence is not required at this time, Katie seems to have everything all taken care of. Tell everyone there I appreciate their prompt attention and thoughtfulness, and once again, I apologize for the false alarms. You have a good night." 

Carefully placing the phone back on its cradle, he turned his full attention on Terry. "I'm done talking, so you start explaining. Exactly what does Sarah have to do with this particular situation?" 

Terry gulped. He was really missing his apartment, even his own erratic cooking. "Well Dad," he paused, "it all began a little over twenty years ago. You and Mom left Sarah to babysit, she was upset about something and wished me away...." 


	9. Chapter 9

AN: No, this is not prettily HTMLed...I figured I'd put it out plain text for a change, give my editor a break.  
  
Sorry about the wait, I didn't intend to go two weeks or more without updating but other   
projects took precedence. I have a lot more written in long hand, some is actually typed,   
I will be transfering it to Notepad at some point.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the original Labyrinth characters, they are owned by Jim Henson productions and also by whomever bought into the company. Katie, her siblings Alan and Elza, their niece Helene, and Sarah's husband Ryan are my creations, as is the coined name Kellsen, which perhaps is someone's real last name but I put two names together to come up with it. The meaning will come up later.   
  
Now, on with the story.   
  
  
  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Jareth lay sprawled on the floor, trapped beneath Katie, struggling to breathe. She had one forearm to his neck, compressing his windpipe, and lay across him in such a way that he was unable to move without risking more damage to other, more sensitive body parts. His sight was fading, darkness gathering before his eyes; his hearing overtaken by a relentless roaring which was ever increasing in volume. Cold prickly sweat seeped out from his pores, and he was thankful that even though he hated the weak, swirly whirly feeling, he could sink into unconsciousness and not gain any more broken body parts, like he did the time he suddenly fainted and fell backwards down the royal staircase....  
  
Katie snapped back into normalcy as she felt him become limp. Quickly she rolled off of him. He was very blue, and much too still.  
  
"Oh dear," she grimaced, "I must have slipped into my Ultimate Defender mode when he came at me instead of the Chastising Sister mode I was going into when I was chasing after the twins."  
  
"Okay, let's see if I remember CPR 101. It's been a long time since I took the course, meant to re-classify, but didn't quite get around to it. Don't panic Katie, you know you can do it." she told herself.  
  
"1st rule, determine level of consciousness." She shook him lightly and called his name..."Oh Jareth!" No response.  
  
She tried again. "Strange Goblin King." Still no response.  
  
"Upon examination, subject is definitely out of commission."  
  
"What is next? Let's see, I need to check for respiration and pulse to determine what degree of CPR I need to perform."  
  
First she put her hand very close to his mouth. When no puff of air greeted the palm or fingers of her left and more sensitive hand from either his mouth or his nose, she leaned over him, tilted her head so her right ear was directly over his mouth, and watched his chest. No puffs of air tickled the hair inside her ear, she could discern no rising or falling of his chest.  
  
"Not breathing." Now she was really beginning to panic.  
  
Her hands shaking a little, she placed her right hand on the left side of his neck, her fingers pressing gently into the anterior triangle so she could feel his pulse, she slipped her left hand inside his shirt so she could get a confirmation heart beat should she feel it at one site or the other. Her efforts were rewarded by a pulse, faint, slow, but definitely there.  
  
Slightly relieved she hadn't completely killed him, she made sure his neck was straight, gently opened his mouth, checked for obstructions, pinched his nostrils shut with her right hand, tilted his chin up slightly with her left, took a deep breath, and blew gently into his mouth three times. He didn't appear to be breathing on his own when she checked him again, so taking another deep breath, she clamped her lips gently but tightly over his, and blew down his throat. Her efforts to revive him were rewarded, but not in the usual manner.  
  
Jareth suddenly pushed her away, rolled to one side, and cowered against the wall. "What is it with you Williams women? You reject me, rob me of my powers, confine me, release me, almost suffocate me, maul me when I'm helpless....."  
  
"Hey! I was NOT mauling you!" Katie vehemently protested, "You were not breathing on your own. I had to do something. I did not go to the trouble of wishing you back only to have you die less than seven hours later." 


	10. Chapter 10

AN: When I go get my Laby notebook to add some more to this story, I end up having the phrase "101 Ways to torture Jareth" running through my head.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the original Labyrinth concept nor do I own the original characters.  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Terry arrived on the scene after a lengthy interrogation by his father, just in time to witness the Kiss of Life Katie had given Jareth, and his reaction to it. Gently he pulled the dazed Goblin King to his feet. "Come with me, I need to explain a few things to you and I'm sure Katie needs to cool off."  
  
"Terry, go tell your father to take a shower, you look like you could use one too. Katie, go get cleaned up as well, before your hair completely crystallizes. Both of you are still on kitchen duty, but in the interests of time, I think we'll order something in, I don't believe anyone feels like cooking as it seems all of our nerves are strained to the breaking point. Jareth, the oft-times irritating Goblin King, you come with me."  
  
Jareth glanced up towards the voice and gasped. "It's you!" he exclaimed bewilderedly, "But how can that be? I remember you from long ago, far too long for you to be still alive and looking not much different than you did back then, at least by normal human standards. "  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
I couldn't resist another cliff hanger. Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve. 


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Chapter 9 and 10 have been reposted, I didn't like the spacing problems in my original author note and I added a sentence or two to Chapter 10.  
  
The plot thickens.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the original characters from or the story Labyrinth. Anything else you don't recognize has crept out from the depths of my mind. ;)  
  
It's My Turn Now  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Smiling gently, Aileen descended the rest of the stairs and took him by the hand. "Come with me, I'll explain all." To her family, who by now had gathered in a cluster of confusion, she barked "Hurry! Get everything cleaned up and you'll be in time to hear the concealed story of my life!"  
  
Ruefully shaking her head, for she'd not wanted to tell her children anything until they were all over the age of twelve, she continued leading Jareth into the small, old-fashioned formal parlor. "Have a seat, anywhere you want, except this armchair. Only I sit here, unless my husband wants to cuddle with me."  
  
Gracefully she sank into the one exception and examined the room. "I suppose it really needs to be remodeled. I haven't allowed anyone to change anything about this room since I had it built over a hundred years ago."  
  
Her attention focused once again on Jareth, who was uncomfortably perched on the edge of the overstuffed horsehair settee, and she couldn't help but giggle at his expression, as well as what he was currently dressed in.  
  
"Did my children provide that clothing to you?" she asked, noticing and pointing out his current ensemble.  
  
He fingered his bright red cotton pajamas with the satin trim, fastened with fluorescent yellow cow buttons. "I haven't seen this particular outfit in very long time. I must have felt very safe in your daughter's room for my clothing to change to this." He sighed, shook his head, and his clothing switched back to the navy blue sweater and gray sweat pants Terry had loaned him, what he'd originally fallen asleep in.  
  
"Much better," Aileen critiqued, "less distracting, although I would have expected you to be wearing one of those ruffled shirts and tights combinations you favored on the rare occasions I saw you."  
  
Jareth frowned. "Well, this is a great improvement over what Katie bade me wear, which I did until Terry dug these out from under his bed."  
  
Aileen grimaced at the thought of what must be living under there. 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot of this particular story, the original characters I have created, and any original characteristics I have given already existing characters.  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Jareth saw her expression. "He washed the clothing before he handed it to me. If you prefer my more formal attire, I will change as this particular situation seems to require it."  
  
He stood up and was about to snap his fingers when Aileen stopped him.  
  
"It really isn't necessary Jareth, you are clad decently enough, which is all I require of my children and any guests which drop by. We keep a magic-free household, not always an easy task to manage. Now," she gazed at him speculatively, "why are you not still wearing the ensemble Katie picked out for you? She has impeccable taste."  
  
He choked and fought to regain control of his very conflicted emotions. Once he finally calmed down, he began to explain the situation to the startled Aileen.  
  
"Under normal circumstances that may be true," he diplomatically began, "however, how I came to be here was anything but ordinary."  
  
Aileen followed him with her eyes as he paced back and forth in front of her.  
  
"I suppose to put this tale in the proper perspective, I must start at the beginning. You see, I met Sarah and Toby twenty years ago when she got upset over something and wished him away."   
  
He smiled grimly as she gasped, but continued. "It was a silly thing done in complete exasperation, which she regretted immediately. When I offered her the Labyrinth challenge, she accepted it instantly with no thought to her own safety and managed to solve it, thus saving her little brother."  
  
He stood still, lost in thought, then continued. "I see now that even if she had failed the task, I would have been compelled to return him. One of your children, in my grasp. No wonder I found him to be such an attractive, intelligent, engaging little chap. He would have made me an excellent heir. Still would, as a matter of fact. I don't suppose you could spare him, or one of the other three?"  
  
Jareth looked at Aileen to see how she was taking his proposition, and found that she was teetering at the edge of her seat, her face flushed and contorted in an angry, protective mask, ready to spring up and attack any perceived threat to her family.  
  
He shook his head. "Tsk; Tsk; I don't need to experience any more physical violence from any member of your family." Gently he picked her up and settled her against the back cushions of her armchair, then he grabbed both her hands in his and knelt down in front of her. Gazing soulfully into her eyes, at which she giggled nervously and looked down at their hands to avoid looking at him directly, he softly said "Lady Aileen Kellsen, you have no need to fear me, even though you turned me down all those many years ago, breaking my confidence and a little of my heart. I realize I was very pompous back then and I would not have treated you how you deserve to be treated."  
  
  
"Ahem. Am I interrupting something?" A freshly groomed Geoffrey stepped inside and walked towards them. 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: same as Chapter 12...I do not own the original Labyrinth.  
  
Chapter 13  
  
At the interruption Jareth gently let Aileen's hands go, gracefully rose to his feet, and resumed his seat. "No, not at all," he answered ruefully, watching as Geoffrey picked Aileen up, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap. "You appear to be very happy and content with each other. She deserves the best. I realized long ago I would have been all wrong for her."  
  
He briskly clicked his tongue a moment or two before picking up his narrative. "I developed an intense obsessive passion for Sarah, disrupted her life, popping in and out at inopportune moments. Finally, she conceived the most brilliant solution and accepted my offer to fulfill her ultimate dream; which proved to be my downfall."  
  
He paused again and stared at the ceiling for a few moments. Shaking his head, he continued. "Her dreams had changed into an overwhelming desire to end my constant interference in her life, in fact, she wanted my existence to completely cease to be. I was confined in the very crystal I'd created to fulfill her ultimate dream, due to be destroyed. Somehow I ended up here, my prison in Katie's care, and she released me, for what purpose I do not know."  
  
Aileen gazed at him steadily. "I appreciate you telling me the events leading up to your being here with us, but I did originally inquire as to why you aren't wearing Katie's clothing selections."  
  
There was a sudden explosion of mirth from the hallway, then Terry and the twins entered the room. "We've restored the kitchen to a more pristine state, and have gotten cleaned up ourselves," he announced at being greeted by puzzled stares from the original occupants of the room; "Katie will be in as soon as she regains control of herself."  
  
The twins pulled ottomans over and settled themselves at the base of their parents' armchair. Terry threw himself down into the other armchair.  
  
Muffled snorts, snickers, and giggles continued from the hallway for a good five minutes or so, then Katie finally made her appearance. 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own the original concept of the Labyrinth, but what is not recognizable wriggled out from the depths of my mind.  
  
AN: I'm torturing my editor by not letting her read it before it's posted. ;D  
  
Chapter 14  
  
It wasn't an ordinary entrance by any means. Katie sashayed into the room and slowly twirled around as though she were a super model on a catwalk.  
  
Aileen blinked, shook her head, and settled for staring. "Katie dear, why are you wearing my frilly aprons? I thought I threw most of those away as they were definitely not of practical value."  
  
All the other occupants uttered not a word, they were unable to. Although they were used to occasional odd outfits from Katie, this surpassed all others.  
  
Katie stopped mid-twirl, grinned, and exited the room. She returned dressed in yet another odd ensemble, slowly turned around, walked around the room, then took both pieces off and tossed them to her mother.  
  
Aileen glanced at the clothing in her lap and stared at her daughter once again. Puzzled she wondered if Katie's concussion was more serious than she thought, then decided she'd better ask and see if she made sense. "What is the purpose behind your fashion show?"  
  
Katie looked about her for a place to sit before answering the query. All the good seats were taken. The only vacant spot was on that hateful, horrendously uncomfortable, horsehair monstrosity. Grimacing slightly, she reluctantly trudged over and gingerly settled herself in the corner opposite Jareth.  
  
He noticed her expression and glared at her.  
  
She glared back. "Why must you be so sensitive? I simply do not like this particular piece of.....  
FUUURNITURE...." she grumped "and I have one piece of advice. Don't EVER sit on something made from horsehair wearing running shorts." She shuddered at the memory.  
  
"WHAT ABOUT THE APRONS?" A chorus of voices brought her back on track.  
  
She sighed. "It was either have him wear the aprons or let him run about the house stark naked. Between not sleeping well for a long time, receiving my latest concussion, cleaning my room, and going too long between meals, wishing him back took all the energy I had left. And I wouldn't have wished him back as unprepared as I was to take care of emergencies if his containment hadn't decided to go after my dinner. I didn't want his globe to shatter."  
  
"So...you had him wear the frilly aprons?" Elza asked.  
  
Katie shook her head. "No."  
  
She smirked and elaborated. "The frilly apron ensemble I modeled was just to demonstrate a possible configuration to partially restore his modesty. I'll bet he was extremely happy to have escaped wearing it."  
  
Jareth flushed and remained silent.  
  
Katie went on. "I had him look through the apron drawer. He didn't find anything he thought suitable, but after much deliberation, we came up with the stunning ensemble I threw to you, Mother."  
  
Aileen inventoried what she held in her lap out loud. "One shocking electric pink wrap-around apron emblazoned with KISS THE COOK in bright crimson, one neon yellow, pink, green, and orange striped housecoat edged in spider web lace around the collar, cuffs, and hemline."   
  
She shook out the pieces, glanced between them and Jareth, then giggled.  
  
Katie hid her face in her hands and struggled to control her emotions, Geoffrey buried his face in his wife's back which caused her to laugh all the more; but Terry and the twins showed no restraint. All three of them threw back their heads and howled.  
  
Jareth grew increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed the more the Williams family carried on. He was about to leave his seat and stalk out of the room when Katie scooted over and hemmed him in against the other corner. "Oh no you don't! You leave now, Mother will decide she needs to wait to tell us anything for at least six years, and I'd like to know when, where, and how the two of you met."  
  
His eyes widened as he stared into her blazing ones. He could feel all the hairs on his body stand on end, and decided to stay put, Terry's tale of why the kitchen had been remodeled so many times running through his head and he'd no wish to experience anything more at her hands.  
  
Slowly he settled. Katie backed off just enough to give him some breathing room, but not enough to where he could easily stand. 


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Yes, this chapter is very short.  
  
Chapter 15  
  
One by one they regained control of themselves, though it took the twins and Terry a lot longer to calm down.   
  
Aileen wiped her streaming eyes with the housecoat and sighed. "I am so sorry, Jareth. I suddenly realized that you must have been greatly relieved to replace this with what you are currently wearing, it looks to be much less drafty. I'm sure the lace just reached your knees. It's a good thing we don't have vents in the house like the one over the subway in 'The Seven-Year Itch.'" 


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Dedicated to my editor who keeps bugging me for "more, write more....don't leave me hanging." I have a lot in my head I have not yet put down on paper. I know where I'm going with this, it just takes time getting there.  
  
Disclaimer: Standard applies, except, what you don't recognize is my creation.  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Stunned silence permeated the room. A visual image of the infamous Goblin King in his more modest apron ensemble, as demonstrated by Katie, super-imposed itself over almost everyone's memory of the very famous clip from 'The Seven Year Itch' ...that of Marilyn Monroe standing on the grate while air blew her white dress up and she only managed to escape complete exposure by holding it down in front.   
  
While Marilyn's image in the movie had gazed playfully seductive at her companion, Jareth's image was very disgruntled about being stuck, in a skirt, over something he couldn't turn off.  
  
Jareth was the one notable exception to the mental image. He had seen the picture of Marilyn Monroe on the grate, but he hadn't paid attention to who it was or where it had come from, thereby avoiding the exact reason why he was now getting some pretty odd looks from his companions, kind of an embarrassed apologetic smirking from the older members of the group, the twins looking at him speculatively. Clearing his throat he folded his arms, stretched his legs out in front of him, crossed them at the ankles...and decided to wait until someone told him exactly what was going on. He could be patient, he had lots of time.  
  
Aileen covered her face with her hands as what she'd last said registered on her ears. Her external ears. *Oh no! I didn't intend to say it out loud, for it to be heard by anyone. Children, Geoffrey dear, don't laugh....please.....don't say or do anything, let it pass unnoticed.* she projected as strongly as she could, and hoped they'd receive her unspoken words. *I didn't mean to....*  
  
Katie realized now really wasn't the best time to hear the fulness of the family heritage. She could see everyone was drooping from the day's events and.....her eyes opened wide in horror.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAGH!?!!?!!" she shrieked, leaped up and raced out of the room. 


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Standard applies, except, what you don't recognize is my creation.  
  
Author's Note:   
January 30, 2003  
No, I have not given up on this...I am still writing, finalizing things, testing ideas out on people (a.k.a. torture ;).   
  
As I said in the author's notes to chapter 16, I know where this is going, it just takes   
time getting there. I never dreamed I'd be writing such an epic, though as of yet this is not as long as some I have read.   
  
Gradually this is coming to a close, I still have a few strings to gather here and there, weave into the final product.  
  
Now, on with the tale.  
  
It's My Turn Now  
  
Chapter 17  
  
The memory of the last time the entire family had gotten caught up in some important matter and had gone too long without eating slowly wangled its way to the forefront of Katie's conscious mind. She realized by the way people were acting that there was a real danger of that historical event repeating itself, and she did NOT want to go through THAT ever again. Once was quite enough for a life-time.  
  
Still shrieking she raced into the kitchen and threw a glass of water at her own face, not quite as effective as another person throwing the water, but effective enough. She quieted down to "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" and an occasional "Not again!"  
  
Quickly she grabbed a microwave-able casserole dish and started throwing things in, whatever semi-appealed to her as being an edible combination, and wouldn't take very long to heat up.  
  
She set the cooking time for 15 minutes and sat down to wait. 


End file.
